Cattle pens and doors therefor



Aug. 28, 1962 E. NORBURY CATTLE PENS AND DOORS THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 13, 1961 Aug. 28, 1962 E. NORBURY CATTLE PENS AND DOORS THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 13. 1961 United rates Patent 3,051,127 CATTLE PENS AND DOORS THEREFOR Eric Norbury, Shurnock Court Farm, Astwood Bank, near Redditch, England Filed Jan. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 82,636 Claims. (Cl. 119-99) The invention relates to a cattle pen, sometimes known as a cattle crush, of the kind capable of accommodating and holding a beast by the neck, while the beast is undergoing marking or other treatment.

An object of the invention is to provide a pen from which a beast can quickly be released without injury According to the invention a pen comprises a base two sides upstanding therefrom and a pair of outwardlyopenable doors, positioned at the exit end of the pen, the doors being hinged along opposite vertical edges thereof and, when closed, co-operating along adjacent vertical edges thereof over part only of their height, each door having an opening in the vertical side edge adjacent the other door and carrying a yoke member, pivotally-mounted on the door for swinging movement across said opening toward and away from said other yoke member, the yoke members having co-operating edges in the region of their pivots, such that, on closing the doors, the yoke members will automatically assume correspondingly opposite positions on each side of the neck of a beast in the pen and on opening the doors, said co-operating edges will be disengaged, and the yoke members will fall away from each other, thereby releasing the beast.

One of the yoke members may have adjustable means to hold it in a desired angular position. Alternatively or additionally, a manually-operable locking mechanism may be provided which will hold the doors in their closed positions and which, when unlocked, will automatically open the doors.

One construction of a cattle pen according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the pen and shows the doors in their closed positions, the yoke members in their operative positions and a beast in the pen;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the pen and shows the doors open and the yoke members in their inoperative positions;

FIGURE 3 is an end view showing the exit end of the pen, the doors being in their closed positions; but the yoke members being in their inoperative positions;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the door locking mechanism in the direction of arrow IV in FIGURE 3, the doors being in their closed positions, and

FIGURE 5 is a plan view similar to FIGURE 4; but with the doors in their open positions.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, the cattle pen comprises two parallel side walls 1 supported by two end frames 2, 3. The entrance end frame 2 is open, but may be closed by a bar 4 when the beast has entered the pen and the opposite end frame 3, i.e., the exit end, has a pair of centrally opening doors, 5a, 5b each hinged about one vertical side to the end frame 3 and arranged to cooperate with the other door along part of the opposite vertical side when the doors are closed. Each door comprises several parallel bars, 6a, 6b respectively, near the bottom of the door and another bar 7a, 7b respectively, along the top of the door. There is thus an open space between the uppermost bar 6a, 6b and the top bar 7a, 7b. A yoke member 8 is pivoted at 9 to the lowest of the bar 6a of the door 5a and another yoke member 10 is pivoted at 11 to one of the bars 6b of the door 5b, the yoke members 8, 10 being arranged to be swung across the open spaces in the doors.

As best seen in FIGURE 3, the yoke member 8 carries a stop or face 12 adjacent its lower end and arranged to engage, when the doors are closed, a follower or face 13 on the lower end of the member 10. The stop 12 and the follower 13 are so arranged that as the yoke member 8 is 5 turned about its pivot, and the doors are in their closed positions, the other yoke member 10 is moved into a corresponding opposite position. Immediately the doors are opened the follower 13 and the stop 12 move apart and the yoke member 10 pivots under its own weight away 10 from the yoke member 8. The yoke member 8 carries a ratchet 14 along an upper edge which is engageable with a manually-operable pawl 15 carried by the door 5a. Thus this yoke member may be fixed in any desired position by engaging the pawl 15 with an appropriate tooth of 15 the ratchet 14. The two yoke members 8, 10 are guided for their swinging movement by means of upstanding rods 16a, 16b engaged in slots in the upper bars 7a, 7b respectively, of the doors. The yoke member 8 has a handle 17 by which it can be pivoted into the desired positions. The doors also have a locking mechanism to hold them in the closed position and for releasing the doors. This locking mechanism can best be seen in FIGURES 4 and 5 and comprises a pair of engaging toothed quadrants 18 pivoted to the top of the end frame 3. Each quadrant is carried on an arm 19 to which is pivoted a toggle link 20, pivoted in turn to the other link 21 of each toggle. Each link 21 is rigidly attached to a corresponding vertical member 22a, 22b of the doors 5a, 5b respectively. The arm 19, connected to the door 5a, carries an operating lever 23. When the doors 5a and 5b are in their closed positions, as in FIGURE 4, the toggle links are aligned with each other and are held in this position by a spring 24. Stops 25 attached to the end frame 3 are pro vided, to prevent the lever being moved too far in the door closing direction. The spring 24 prevents the doors from being forced open by the beast when the doors are in the locked position. To release the doors, the operating lever 23 is moved to the position shown in FIGURE 5 This collapses the toggle links and extends the spring 214. The pen has a floor 26 and lifting brackets 27 for engagement with the lifting mechanism of a tractor.

In operation when a beast has entered the pen the doors 5a, 5b are closed and locked by means of the lever 23. Then the two yoke members 8, 10 are swung together by means of the handle 17, to hold the beasts neck between them. The amount of closing is determined by engaging the pawl 15 and the appropriate tooth of the ratchet 14. When the door locking mechanism is released, the doors open and immediately the yoke member 10 swings away from the yoke member 8 to release the beasts neck. The double centre-opening doors and the consequent immediate release of the beasts neck enable the beast to leave the pen unimpeded and without injury. The toggle release mechanism operates immediately on movement of the operating lever 23 without the operation of latches and thus will not alarm the beast. It should be noted that the only two operating members, namely the lever 23 and the handle 17 are on the same side of the pen.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by 60 Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a cattle pen of the kind comprising a base, two sides upstanding therefrom and a pair of outwardly openable doors at the exit end of the pen, the combination 'of said pair of doors and a pair of yoke members, each pivotally mounted on one of said doors for swinging movement across said door toward and away from said other yoke member, the pivot of each yoke member being located laterally inward of the centre of gravity of said member, whereby said member is biased by its own weight 70 to pivot laterally oppositely to said other yoke member,

one of said yoke members having adjustable means to hold it in a desired angular position with respect to the door on which it is mounted and both said yoke members having co-operable faces in the regions of their pivots, such that on closing the doors said faces will abut each other and said yoke members will automatically assume laterally opposite positions with respect to each other according to the position in which said one yoke member has been set with respect to the door on which it is mounted and that on opening said doors, said faces will \become separated and said yoke members will move outwardly away from each other under their own weight, thereby releasing the neck of a beast held between the yoke members when the doors were closed.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which said holding means comprises a ratchet on said one yoke member and a manually adjustable pawl engageable with said ratchet and carried on said door on which said one yoke member is mounted.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1 including a manually operable locking mechanism by which said doors are held in their closed positions and which, when unlocked, will automatically open the doors.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 3 in which said locking mechanism includes spring means arranged to bias said locking mechanism in the locked position and hence to hold said doors in the closed positions.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 4 in which said locking mechanism comprises a pair of interengaging toothed quadrants, an operating lever carried on one of said quadrants, a pair of toggle linkages, each interconnecting one of said doors to one of said quadrants and which, when collapsed, will open said door, and a helical tension spring interconnecting said toggle linkages and arranged to bias them into their erected positions in which said doors are in their closed positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 676,967 Smith June 25, 1901 2,703,554 Haggard et al. Mar. 8, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 550,027 Great Britain Dec. 18, 1942 

